ESG & Sustainability

We are working towards more sustainable business practices and minimising our environmental impact.

Lionweld Kennedy, part of Hill & Smith PLC, have been manufacturing in the UK for over 100 years and now, more than ever, we are committed to protecting the world we live in and enhancing lives through our ESG initiatives.

The Hill & Smith ESG strategy is aligned with the group’s purpose of creating sustainable infrastructure and safe transport through innovation. At Lionweld Kennedy, our actions are aligned with that of Hill & Smith and we continue to work hard to ensure that improving sustainability is woven into our daily working lives.

All our environmental management systems are certified to ISO14001:2015 through LRQA.

We are committed to reaching Carbon Net Zero by 2040 and have developed a Carbon Reduction Plan to show how we will support this target and reduce our carbon emissions over the next 5 years.

With our Carbon Reduction Plan in place, we estimate our impact will be:

A total electricity saving of 3kWh/tonne steel produced.
A total carbon reduction of 340Te or 037Te CO2e/tonne steel produced.

Lionweld Kennedy have obtained the world’s first Environmental Product Declaration for steel grating!

As part of our efforts to lead a better change within the industry, obtaining the EPD for our low-carbon, infinitely recyclable Safegrid products cements our commitment to our ESG plan and minimising our impact on the world.

Discover more about how we have invested in a certification to raise the standards within the manufacturing industry here.

Other Carbon Reducing Initiatives

– Greenstone ESG monitoring software has been implemented to ensure full traceability of scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
– 650 solar panels have been installed at our manufacturing facility in Middlesbrough, designed to generate 300mWh of electricity annually.
– Our entire fleet of forklift trucks have been replaced with electric forklifts, reducing diesel use by over 10,000 litres and reducing Co2e by 25 tonnes.
– Since Autumn 2022, our factory has been heated by Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, providing a 90% reduction in carbon emissions compared to the previous fuel source.
– The electricity supply for our site has been changed to 100% green tariff.

As a result of the carbon-reducing initiatives we have successfully implemented, we have reached our long-term net-zero target for 2040 in just 3 years.

Lionweld Kennedy have obtained the world’s first Environmental Product Declaration for steel grating!

As part of our efforts to lead a better change within the industry, obtaining the EPD for our low-carbon, infinitely recyclable Safegrid products cements our commitment to our ESG plan and minimising our impact on the world.

We are the first grating manufacturer globally to track the environmental performance and impact of our products and our steel mesh grating has the lowest embodied carbon of any other EPD-rated products.

Discover more about how we have invested in a certification to raise the standards within the manufacturing industry here.

Find out more

Other Carbon Reducing Initiatives

Greenstone ESG monitoring software has been implemented to ensure full traceability of scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
650 solar panels have been installed at our manufacturing facility in Middlesbrough, designed to generate 300mWh of electricity annually.
Our entire fleet of forklift trucks have been replaced with electric forklifts, reducing diesel use by over 10,000 litres and reducing Co2e by 25 tonnes.
Since Autumn 2022, our factory has been heated by Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, providing a 90% reduction in carbon emissions compared to the previous fuel source.
The electricity supply for our site has been changed to 100% green tariff.

As a result of the carbon-reducing initiatives we have successfully implemented, we have reached our long-term net-zero target for 2040 in just 3 years.

Our Employees

Here at Lionweld Kennedy, we have developed an award-winning apprenticeship programme, with 10 of our apprentices being employed in 2021. We are committed to further developing our programme and truly believe in providing vital opportunities to develop talent and provide skilled roles in our community. In 2022, we have been ranked as one of the top 50 SME apprentice employers in the country by the UK government. We also work with local schools and colleges to provide work experience and workplace tours.

Find out more about Hill & Smith PLCs Apprenticeship Scheme and talent development ambitions in their latest newsletter.

We have an employee-led charity committee promoting money raising activities to support local good causes and we also operate an employee engagement committee to listen to our employees’ suggestions and concerns, encouraging a happier and more motivated workplace.